Sports Center

Hurricanes Baseball Needs To Win Final Two Games Of Series This Week

The postseason may not have technically started yet but it certainly felt like it did this week for the Harborfields and Westhampton Beach baseball teams.

Both squads came into their final three-game series on Monday needing victories to clinch a berth into the postseason. Harborfields, needing just one win, punched its ticket on Monday in a 12-3 victory in Westhampton Beach, putting the Hurricanes in a must-win situation for the final two games of the series, which were Tuesday and Wednesday. Both games occurred too late to be in this week’s article. Head to 27east.com for the latest news on the final two games of the series.

The current scenario would have never happened had Westhampton Beach not taken one of three games from Rocky Point last week, which the Canes did in walk-off fashion. In game two in Westhampton Beach on May 3, the Canes rallied for six runs in the second inning to take a 6-3 lead over the Eagles, who were in first place prior to the start of the game. Rocky Point eventually had its own rally, in the top of seventh, scoring three runs to take a 7-6 advantage.

In the bottom of the seventh, Jake Viera singled through the left side of a drawn-in infield to tie the game at 7-7. Sam Kaplan followed up with a bouncing ground ball through the right side of the infield that scored Tyler Skala from third to give the Canes the 8-7 walk-off win, which proved key since they lost the third game of the series on Thursday, May 4, after having lost the first game on May 2.

The Class A playoffs are expected to begin with outbracket games this Monday, May 15. With the regular season wrapping up by the middle of this week, brackets should be released by this weekend. Go to sectionxi.org and click on ‘Brackets’ under ‘Students & Fans’ for up-to-date bracket information.